Mississippi
The Final Horn: State 78, Utah 73 – Mississippi State
THE BOTTOM LINE: Mississippi State is off to a perfect 4-0 start this season courtesy of a determined second-half surge that carried MSU past Utah 78-73 at the Landers Center in Southaven on Sunday. The Bulldogs trailed 39-28 after the first 20 minutes of play but used a 22-5 run out of halftime to gain a six-point edge before fending off the Utes down the stretch. Utah tied the game at 71-all with only 1:40 remaining, however State locked down defensively and scored seven of the game’s final nine points to secure victory.
KEY NUMBERS: Individually, Josh Hubbard scored 20 of his team-high 23 points in the second half to lead State’s surge, while KeShawn Murphy did a little of everything for the Bulldogs with 18 points, 14 rebounds, a couple of blocks and an assist. Riley Kugel and Cameron Matthews also reached double figures in scoring for State as each tallied 12 points. Matthews also collected a pair of steals, surpassing the 200-mark for his career. Collectively though, the biggest difference in the game was State’s second-half offensive resurgence. After shooting just 22.9 percent from the field as a team in the opening period, including only making one of 13 shots from three-point range, MSU shot 50 percent as a group the rest of the way and made five of its final 12 tries from deep.
SOCIAL MEDIA SCENES:
.@the_shawnjr5 ☝️#HailState🐶 || 📺: https://t.co/HQ0UaN0plb (ESPN2) pic.twitter.com/3w38DhYEnv
— Mississippi State Men’s Basketball (@HailStateMBK) November 17, 2024
Hustle play three and the Landers Center comes alive! #HailState🐶 || 📺: https://t.co/HQ0UaMZRvD (ESPN2) pic.twitter.com/jYxj2aDrdv
— Mississippi State Men’s Basketball (@HailStateMBK) November 17, 2024
JOSH HUBBARD X2!
State opens up the second half on a 15-5 run and force the Utes to take a timeout!
𝗗𝗔𝗪𝗚𝗦 » 43
Utes » 44 #HailState🐶 || 📺: https://t.co/HQ0UaMZRvD (ESPN2) pic.twitter.com/xXOJoMewDG— Mississippi State Men’s Basketball (@HailStateMBK) November 17, 2024
11 Points in the second half so far for @jhubb_3! #HailState🐶 || 📺: https://t.co/HQ0UaMZRvD (ESPN2) pic.twitter.com/3tJdvNG6EC
— Mississippi State Men’s Basketball (@HailStateMBK) November 17, 2024
FIRE US UP, @MelendezRamses!!
RK TO RJ and the Dawgs lead by 3! #HailState🐶 || 📺: https://t.co/HQ0UaMZRvD (ESPN2) pic.twitter.com/JAZJQ9hjYa
— Mississippi State Men’s Basketball (@HailStateMBK) November 17, 2024
Comeback Complete.
𝐃𝐀𝐖𝐆𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐍!!#HailState🐶 pic.twitter.com/fxqsemRSRh
— Mississippi State Men’s Basketball (@HailStateMBK) November 17, 2024
NEXT UP FOR THE DAWGS: Mississippi State faces a true road test as MSU battles SMU at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas, on Friday, Nov. 22. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed via ACC Network Extra.
It will be a beautiful start to the weekend with sunny skies and highs in the 80s. Here’s your statewide forecast from the National Weather Service.
Northern Mississippi
It will be a sunny Friday with highs in the mid-80s. Friday night will be mostly cloudy and warmer with lows in the mid to upper 60s.
Central Mississippi
Friday will be sunny with highs in the mid to upper 80s. Friday night will be mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s.
Southern Mississippi
It will be a sunny Friday with highs in the mid-80s. Friday night will be partly cloudy with lows in the lower 60s.
Mississippi
Golden Spikes watchlist features players from Mississippi State, Ole Miss – SuperTalk Mississippi
Two pitchers representing Mississippi universities are up for the 2026 Golden Spikes Award.
USA Baseball announced Thursday the 25 semifinalists for the award, which is presented annually to the most prolific college player in the nation. Both Mississippi State’s Tomas Valincius and Ole Miss’ Cade Townsend cracked the list. It’s the latest award each was announced to be up for after Valincius and Townsend became Ferris Trophy finalists earlier this week.
Valincius, a left-hander who followed first-year Bulldog head coach Brian O’Connor to Starkville from Virginia has been a star for Mississippi State this season. In 13 starts, the sophomore is 8-2 with a 2.52 ERA and 105 strikeouts, along with just 16 walks across 75 innings of work.
He has effectively limited opposing hitters to a .209 batting average on the year and ranks second in the SEC in strikeouts and wins, and is third in innings pitched and fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.56) and WHIP (0.99).
Valincius is the 10th Bulldog to earn a semifinalist distinction from the Golden Spikes Award and the first since Dakota Jordan in 2024. Will Clark is the program’s only Golden Spikes Award winner in 1985 while Rafael Palmeiro and Brent Rooker finished as finalists for the honor in 1984 and 2017, respectively.
For Ole Miss, Townsend is the first Rebel since Doug Nikhazy in 2021 and just the seventh ever to be named a semifinalist for the award. He is the first Ole Miss sophomore to ever be named a semifinalist as all six before him were juniors.
The right-hander boasts a 3.25 ERA and has struck out 77 batters while only allowing 20 earned runs in 55.1 innings. Townsend ranks fifth in the SEC in WHIP (1.01), strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.50), and strikeouts per nine innings (12.52). He leads the Rebels in all three categories as well as batters struck out looking (24) and wins and is second in opponent batting average (.202) and total strikeouts (77).
If Townsend is announced as a finalist, he will join Stephen Head and Drew Pomeranz in earning the honor. No Ole Miss player has ever won the Golden Spikes Award.
The full list of semifinalists can be found here. Finalists will be named on June 10, and this year’s Golden Spikes Award winner will be announced on the MLB Network on June 29. Fans can weigh in on which player is their favorite by clicking here.
One series remains in the regular season and Ole Miss and Mississippi State baseball are in similar situations.
Both are locks for the NCAA Tournament but are on the bubble for hosting a regional.
The Tennessean’s latest bracket projections have both the Rebels and Bulldogs as two of the 16 national seeds, but that is not solidified yet.
Finding wins in the final series, and possibly the SEC Tournament too, are necessary. Both teams close the regular season on the road against ranked teams that are also projected to host regionals.
The No. 12 Bulldogs (38-14, 15-12 SEC) play at No. 10 Texas A&M (37-12, 16-10). The No. 19 Rebels (35-18, 14-13) play at No. 16 Alabama (35-17, 16-11). Both series begin May 14 (6 p.m., SEC Network+).
Here’s a look at the different scenarios for Ole Miss and Mississippi State to host NCAA Tournament regionals.
Mississippi State, Ole Miss hosting scenarios for NCAA Tournament
Ole Miss and Mississippi State getting swept could knock them completely out of the hosting conversation, barring a deep run in the SEC Tournament. However, SEC Tournament wins are not always viewed the same as SEC regular-season wins by the selection committee.
Mississippi State is in a slightly better spot than Ole Miss. The Bulldogs’ RPI is at No. 12, one spot ahead of Ole Miss. They are tied for sixth in the SEC standings, while Ole Miss is ninth.
The Bulldogs also went 4-0 against Ole Miss, which could give them the edge if the final hosting seed came down to those two teams.
The Tennessean projects MSU as the No. 12 national seed and the Rebels as the No. 13 seed. D1Baseball and Baseball America also project MSU to host, however they both have Ole Miss as a No. 2 seed.
That could mean Ole Miss needs two wins against Alabama, while MSU may be fine with just one win at Texas A&M. If Ole Miss wins one game at Alabama, it probably would need multiple wins in the SEC Tournament.
Mississippi State winning two games at Texas A&M could keep it in contention for a top eight seed. Ole Miss and Mississippi State sweeping their series obviously would, too.
Getting a top eight seed is advantageous because that means you are guaranteed to host a super regional.
Who Ole Miss, Mississippi State fans should root against
It will help Ole Miss and Mississippi State if teams near them in the projections lose, too. That would be teams like Oregon, West Virginia, Wake Forest, Nebraska, Oregon State and Kansas.
Oregon hosts Southern Cal, Nebraska plays at Minnesota, Kansas plays at BYU, Wake Forest plays at Duke, Oregon State hosts Air Force and West Virgina hosts TCU.
How NCAA Tournament history could be made in Mississippi
If everything falls the right way, there’s a chance Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss all host NCAA Tournament regionals. That’s never happened.
The No. 9 Golden Eagles (37-14, 19-8 Sun Belt) are projected by The Tennessean as the No. 10 national seed, just ahead of MSU and Ole Miss.
Southern Miss plays a home series against Georgia Southern (15-37, 7-20) at Pete Taylor Park beginning May 14 (7 p.m., ESPN+).
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
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